Last month, Giorgio Armani Beauty launched a range of 36 new lipsticks, called the Rouge Ecstasy CC (Colour and Care) range. After the whole BB cream rage, followed by the CC cream ‘thing’ it was inevitable I guess, that other products would start creating multi functional products with the label.

I personally thought that is seemed like a risk; Armani beauty has such elegant product that don’t at all seem faddy to me, surely the CC thing is just another fad?

Nevertheless, I was happy to test out these lipsticks – they have a balm like quality ‘care’ with high pigmentation ‘colour’. They contain ingredients like shea butter for example, to keep the lips moisturised.

Colours

The launched a rather huge collection of 36 shades and you will absolutely find one that you like. It’s actually quite amazing to see, they have everything from super nudes, to hot pink, to red, to orange, brown, peaches, beige etc. I pity the gal that goes to the counter and tries to just pick one.

Texture

Now this is a funny one. This lipstick is not like a lip balm – it’s not soft enough. Nor is it a creamy lipstick – it’s nothing like say YSL Rouge Volupte. It’s not even as soft as a MAC lipstick. In fact, if you hadn’t told me that it was supposed to have the balm like qualities, I wouldn’t have associated it. It actually feels like quite thick texture to me, and doesn’t glide on like other lipsticks. However, once on the lips, it is comfortable to wear and does feel like it is protecting your lips, because it is quite thick.

I personally find the texture really interesting because so many brands these days try and make super soft creamy lip colours and this is quite different as it has that firmness to it. I like it! It’s unique!

Pigmentation

Because I found the texture firmer than usual, I wasn’t sure if the colours would translate that well. Well they do – two coats of this lip colour and you will have full on opaque rich lovely lip colour with some soft shine. The colours also translate very well from the tube to the lips as I find sometimes colours change on me.

Packaging

These come in red (Armani lipsticks are usually black). I think the red looks festive but because the case is so sturdy had well made (I have this thing where I think if a lipstick costs above £15 it should really come in heavy weight packaging) it feels expensive and luxurious.

104 – SKIN (Nude Family)

200 – MINERAL (Brown Family)

301 – GIO (Coral Family)

307 – TANGERINE (Coral Family)

401 – HOT (Red Family)

600 – MANIA (Plum/Berry Family)

*I also have 500 – Eccentrico (Pink Family) but forgot to include it here. I do swatch it later on my lips!

I took lip swatches by the window, so the light was pretty cool but also true to how these look when outdoors.

104 – Skin – a nude pinkish beige. Covered my lips quite well and looks very much like a nude on my skin tone, with enough pink to not look too ‘dead’. One of those staple nudes.

200 – Mineral – a brown. In the tube I was like, noooooo. Brown lipsticks are what I wore at high school, along with Constance Carroll foundation that was 10 shades too light. However, actually this translate to a MLBB flattering lip colour:

301 – Gio looks almost like a red in the tube but applied it is a bright orange with a hint of red to make it more of full bodied orange as opposed to…

307 Tangerine – a yellower orange, bright and summery:

401 – Hot is a red, which looks SO MUCH NICER on the lips then when swatched, where it’s a tad boring. It made my lips feel really good too and soft!

600 – Mania – a plum, is too another colour which I would never have considered if purchasing from a counter. Once again I felt that this is far better on the lips than when just swatched on the hand.

Also the darker shades leave a decent looking stain on the lips after eating and drinking:

As a testament to the ‘care’ element of these lip colours, my lips are usually in pain after I swatch a large number of lipsticks in one session, but this was not the case at all with these.

Finally, 500 – Eccentrico which I forgot to include in the original swatches!

Of all the colours I have above this is the one I would make a bee line for on counter. I love hot pinks, especially blue based ones.

The pigmentation of this colour does not disappoint either – it is rich, creamy and densely pigmented.

This is the perfect Hot Pink – it’s bright but wearable and pretty too – not too scary!

Verdict:

Giorgio Armani’s Rouge Ecstasy CC Lipsticks have many strengths and are definitely a very impressive range although they aren’t cheap either at £25 each. However this is in line with other premium branded lipsticks.

I actually find these more interesting than some of those other high end pricey lipsticks – the texture is not as soft or creamy as I expected, yet, they still offer a ton of pigment and a genuinely feel ‘protective’ on the lips, as a lip balm would. They also last and leave a slight stain and have a really pretty soft shine finish that is very flattering even when the colour looks garish in the tube.

There’s a huge selection of colours – something for everyone – certainly if I were going on counter, I would purchase a medium toned pink or medium beige nude for every day wear and I wouldn’t hesitate dropping £25 for this formula in my staple colours.

Comments

The shades are fantastic! I would love to try the mania shade because I’m sure it will look great on the shape of my lips and to my complexion. The price is fair enough for the kind of quality that these lipsticks can offer. What I love most is that they also have balm ingredients to protect my lips from chapping. I hope they can lower the price for wholesale.